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TORONTO, Jan. 6, 2012 /CNW/ - The Board of Aureus Mining Inc. ("Aureus"
or the "Company") announces that, pursuant to its Stock Option Plan, it
has granted incentive stock options to certain directors and employees
of the Company. The share options were granted over a total of
1,741,000 common shares, representing approximately 1.48% of the issued
share capital of the Company at an exercise price of C$1.05 per share,
exercisable as follows: one third immediately; one third after one
year; and one third after two years. The share options issued are
capable of being exercised up to 4 January 2017.

The allocation of stock options to directors was as follows:

Director

Position

New Options Issued

Total Options Held

Current Shareholding in Aureus

Percentage of Current Issued Share Capital

David Reading

President & CEO

400,000

1,750,000

258,334

0.22

David Netherway

Chairman

200,000

1,555,123

139,595

0.12

Adrian Reynolds

Director

50,000

250,000

-

-

David Beatty

Director

50,000

250,000

50,000

0.04

Jean-Guy Martin

Director

50,000

250,000

-

-

Luis da Silva

Director

50,000

1,407,500

74,826

0.06

These options were issued for nil consideration.

About Aureus Mining Inc.

The company's assets include the New Liberty gold deposit in Liberia
(the "New Liberty Gold Project"), which has an estimated Indicated
Mineral Resource of 751,000 ounces of gold grading 4.17 g/t (contained
in 5,599,000 tonnes) and an estimated Inferred Mineral Resource of
762,000 ounces of gold grading 3.40 g/t (contained in 7,040,000
tonnes). A preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") of the New Liberty
Gold Project filed in December 2010 outlined a robust open pit gold
mine with a pre-tax NPV of US$234 million based on an $1,100/oz. gold
price and a 10% discount rate. The PEA outlined an 8.5 year mine life
with approximate production of 100,000 ounces per year in the first
five years. The New Liberty Gold Project is being advanced through to a
definitive feasibility study.

The New Liberty Gold Project locates within the Bea Mountain mining
license which covers 457 km2 and has a 25 year, renewable, mineral development agreement. The Bea
Mountain mining license also hosts the proximal gold targets of
Ndablama, Weaju, Silver Hills and Gondoja which are the focus of
exploration programs during 2011.

The company also has gold assets within exploration properties in
Cameroon.

Qualified Person

The Company's Qualified Person responsible for preparing this release is
David Reading, who holds a MSc in Economic Geology from University of
Waterloo, Canada and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials,
Minerals and Mining. David Reading is the President and CEO of Aureus
Mining Inc. and consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the
matters based on their information in the form and context in which it
appears and confirms that this information is accurate and not false or
misleading.